Ops Center, Mirage Station 

Carson stood in front of the communications station looking through the data that Buckley had been working through, but admittedly in all his years he wasn’t the best when it came to all the inner working of communications. The truth was it was one area he never really learned more than he had too and he was completely ok with that. He finally had to say something though “Buckley this looks like some complex work and while I have been trying to understand it I can say I haven’t deciphered anything. Is there any update?”

Commander Bernard Buckley glanced up, his eyes growing tired of the scrolling data on the screen all around him, “The update is…we’re making progress in inches where it should be much longer.  I could teach you some things…”

Carson shook his head and gave a slight smirk “No that’s ok, Commander. I will find something to do in the meantime. Keep up the good work.” He quickly walked away before Buckley tried to start educating him on the finer workings of communications. He began to look for something to do while he waited, though in most cases he would just leave the ops center given the dire situation he opted to stay. Ellis was by Buckley and she knew more about comms than he did. In truth she was the best choice for XO of the station.

He looked up and saw Fleet Captain Tomuya walk in the room and stood straight before getting a gentle wave to stop. “Tomuya I didn’t expect to see you here. What can I help you with?” While Carson was the station commander he still reported to Tomuya as the squadron leader.

Tomuya shook her head “I am trying to determine what is going on, Captain. This is not normal and not hearing from the Neptune and Hydra has me worried. I rarely feel worried about my ships, but with the sudden comms blackout something doesn’t feel right. I know we still have the Tianwen here for defense of the station maybe we should brief them on the situation?”

Carson nodded at the suggestion “While we still do not have a solution it would be prudent to make sure they are aware. While the station has adequate defensive posture and protection I think all hand will be needed for whatever is going to happen. I am going to order the station to go to yellow alert.”

Tomuya nodded at the suggestion “I think that is a good idea. I will radio Captain Hyden and Cruz to join us.”

Carson grunted  in acknowledgement before walking over to Ellis and Buckley again. He looked at Ellis first “Commander I want you to issue a station wide announcement as of this moment the station is going to yellow alert and make sure they know its not a drill.” Ellis shook her head as a strand of hair fell over her eye. “Will do so immediately.” She knew that the station had been drilling for a moment like this, but in truth they had not seen any true action yet. So the not a drill part was understandable.

Carson looked back at Buckley and at Ellis respectively “We also will be briefing the Captain and XO of the Tianwen and I want you there as well Commander.”

Bernard gave a small wave as he continued his work.  The trouble wasn’t that he wasn’t finding a solution to the situation.  The trouble was there didn’t appear to be a solution.  In all his years there had always been something to do or an adjustment to make.  None of that was working here.  Nothing was working to lift the curtain that had been dropped all around them, sending space into a hard blackout.

Tomuya immediately messaged Hyden and Cruz asking them to report to the briefing room on the station getting quick acknowledgement she was happy with. This situation was dire and they were the only people that could support the station and whatever needed efforts might need to occur.

Captains Quarters, USS Tianwen

Hyden had been relaxing as the station had not needed their assistance. The ship had just returned from a patrol the night before. He stretched his arm wrapping it around Cruz who had now been a rock he had come to depend on. A relationship as the senior officers of a ship help challenges, but somehow they had grounded each other. He was about to drift back to sleep when he heard his and Cruz’s commbadges chirp. He acknowledged the request by the Fleet Captain.

He turned back over towards Cruz and whispered in her ear “Time to wake up, beautiful.”

Rolling over Adriana Cruz groaned, she had been hoping to sleep in. One of the benefits of taking a step back from commanding her own vessel was that, at least in theory, there was less chance of being woken up early. Glancing at Hyden she sat up, “I don’t suppose we have time for a pre-shift workout.”

She left unsaid what exactly the workout may entail.

Hyden smirked at the comment “As much as I would love that we have been asked to report to the station for a briefing with Tomuya and I am guessing some of the station senior staff.”

Swinging her foot to her side of the bed she picked up her artificial leg which was situated leaning against the bedside table. Clamping on her stump she flexed it, and tested the electronics to ensure it would respond. Though she had been getting better with the replacement since her injury she still had some distrust of the android like replacement.

”What’s this about?” Cruz asked as she stood and headed to Hyden’s closet where she had a small selection of duty uniforms for nights she spent here as opposed to her own quarters.

He shook his head as she looked him in the eyes “I have no idea, but we should probably get dressed and head that way.”

Cruz returned to the bed, leaning down and grinning, placing her hands on the mattress as she brought her face close to his, “Then let’s get up and go. It we’re done early enough we can get lunch at that Bajoran place.”

Hyden smiled and gave her a kiss before rolling out of bed to get ready.

(Short Timeskip)

Briefing Room, Mirage Station

Carson watched as the group entered the room he had left the operations center early to do a quick walk around the station before heading for the briefing room. He still felt uneasy because things were not making sense. The station was on the border of Federation territory so it was rare to have any huge issues, but something about this being throughout the entire sector did not make sense.

Ellis could see the uneasy look on Carson’s face though they had just entered the room in the small time she had worked with him she had learned some of his facial expressions. At times she felt like the support he needed and she always tried to do whatever was needed to alleviate the load he dealt with daily. She walked up next to him her PADD in hand before taking her place next to him at the table.

Bernard had found his seat early, and he had been working on it continuously since walking out of the communications center.  He’s pulled in more auxillary staff from communications and science to tackle some ideas.  They were working, sending him ideas as he sat.  Certain signals on the lower and older bands were showing promise.  He kept at the work himself as well, hoping something would come up that would fix this situation.

Tomuya took her spot at the table and looked at the group in the room each one of them fit for the duty they held, but even those fit could struggle with the unknown. She could tell the group was eager to determine what was happening, but she felt like there was some confusion or even some frustration in the situation. The truth was even she didn’t like not knowing what was going on.

Hyden walked into the room with Cruz right behind him. His throat tightened when he saw those present in the room it was some of the highest ranking people on the station and not people he usually interacted with, but he knew who they were. ‘Something here isn’t right.‘ he thought as he took his seat looking at the group.

Cruz was quiet, not sure what they had been called for but based off the mood of those in the room she refrained from making jokes. She slid into a chair next to Hyden and remained silent, waiting for the information download.

Tomuya stood up and cleared her throat “Thank you all for joining us so promptly as this was discovered by the communications officer I am going to let him start with what we know.”

Bernard stood, tapping at his PADD, “The communications blackout is pretty bleak – we’ve been unable to reach out beyond a certain point,” he tapped the PADD, and the image of the station around them with lines detailing the length and width of the blackout.  “We are working on older and lower band frequencies that are able to reach a little farther. Our time is focusing their efforts there.”

Tomuya nodded and looked at Carson “Is there any threats that have been detected?”

Carson looked at Ellis who shook her head slightly “We have not seen any known threats emerge, but with little to no sensor range the truth is we can’t say for sure what is beyond the darkness. I raised the alert of the station and we are on watch for any possible enemies in conjunction with Buckley.”

Tomuya gave a slight nod at looked at Hyden and Cruz “Is the Tianwen ready for immediate deployment?”

Hyden nodded and looked at Cruz. He had been letting her get more comfortable as XO and was helping to let her give reports in that capacity.

Balancing being a captain, who before her injury had had her own command, and serving as Hyden’s first officer was a balancing act. Cruz who could be hot headed, and stubborn was trying her best to fit into the role of the supportive XO. Part of that was figuring out when Hyden wanted her to step in on something, and when to allow him to be authoritative. Getting the sense that he wanted her to offer up the report, Cruz inclined her head and said, “We are prepared for immediate deployment.”

Under normal circumstances there were still a few science teams that were slated to come aboard, but given the situation they would be able to cast off with what staff they currently had.

Tomuya looked back at Buckley “Do you think we could figure out a way to stay in contact with the Tianwen if we send her our for recon?”

The communications chief gave a nod, “I’ll get my team to do a quick work up – plenty of old archaic options to pursue. I’ll send what I have in two hours.”

The crew returned to their ship. Cruz readied them for departure, allowing the captain to focus on more strategic things. Soon they’d be out in the great unknown, stepping into the darkness.